Hayao Miyazaki

Filmmaker Makoto Shinkai has a loyal following in Japan and America. But until this year’s release of the animated feature “Your Name” (“Kimi No Na Wa”), he’d never had a major box office hit.

In the three-plus months that “Your Name” has been in Japanese theaters, however, the film has earned more than 19.4 billion yen (about $174 million). That’s made it the No. 1 box office hit in Japan for 2016. In fact, “Your Name,” which opened Friday in Los Angeles for an Oscar-qualifying run, is the first animated film not directed by Hayao Miyazaki to gross more than 10 billion yen (about...

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